Here We Go Again

With the excitement of the Olympic knitting over and the shakes from Olympic watching withdrawl subsiding, it's time to turn my focus back on the regularly scheduled knitting.

First up, Brandy's blanket aka "the Magnum Opus". It was off the needles before I left for Hawaii, but everyone who saw it agreed that it needed a border. The first thing I did upon casting off Grandma's socks, was pick the blanket up and weave in all the ends. (Ugh... is there ANYONE who actually LIKES weaving in ends out there?) And then- I faced a familiar foe- crochet.

I spent the entire weekend this last week fighting with crochet. I OWNED the hdc (half double crochet) and I fear that I can actually read a crochet pattern now. (I'll try and forget that knowledge asap.) Sunday evening the border looked like this:

I decided NOT to do the second color border, as I think the first color finishes this off nicely. The blanket is going to be blocked, heavily, and hopefully next week I'll show you the finished product and have it in the mail to my very patient friend.

With the blanket essentially done, I picked up a project I have been practically chomping at the bit to start. Behold! I give you "Pink Insanity!"- hopefully my entry for Stampede this year!

Doesn't look like much does it? Perhaps that's because I have chosen the tiniest yarn and the tiniest needles to knit it with. (Hence the reference to insanity, because I am clearly insane to attempt this.) I'm knitting this blanket on fingering weight yarn and size US 2 (3 mm) needles. To give you an idea of how tiny the stitches are, I took this photo.

Why yes, I am crazy. Thanks for asking!

The husband keeps calling this project my "Stampede 2012" project after seeing the tiny needles and stitches and doing the math on how long this could potentially take. Despite all of his doubts, and quite frankly mine, I have taken on this challenge with great enthusiasm. I'm so excited about knitting this project, and if everything goes as planned, this going to be a BEAUTIFUL blanket when it's done. I'm projecting, and aiming for an 8 week finish. I know I can do this!

Cross your fingers. (And maybe have the men in white coats on stand by... this could be a slightly bumpy ride.)

Gold Medal for Canada!

Guess what world?

That’s right- I’m a gold medalist! I knit 2 pairs of socks in two weeks and I just managed to finish on time! Knitters participating in the Olympics were asked to select something that would challenge them. You’ve seen me knit countless pairs of socks, but the challenge I knew would be time.

AND HOO BOY, it was close. I finished Sunday, the 28^th, around noon. (Thank goodness because there’s no way I would have knit a stitch during that hockey game nail biter.) Time was even more of a challenge than I thought. I didn’t really start until the Sunday I got back from Maui (Feb 14^th). I jumped right in, knitting Grandpa’s socks first- and man they were huge! Unfortunately I was presented with a challenge when I got back to work. There was a tsunami, (because tidal wave is just not adequate to express the size) of work waiting for me. There were late nights at work that took away sock knitting time. And yet, somehow I finished Grandpa’s socks in a flurry of efficiency.

Just when I thought I could manage Grandma’s socks, because I had caught up with work, life threw me another obstacle- namely a nasty cold. I knew that the end of my week I’d be helping my sister with her move, so I had planned for efficient knitting in the earlier parts of the week. Except I became a one man snot factory and when I wasn’t blowing my nose, I was feeling too tired to think about knitting. (The fear of another work tsunami kept me in the office, but I won’t lie, I wasn’t an A+ employee last week, I was working on a C average.) And yet, with maybe a few late nights thrown in, I did manage to finish grandma’s socks.

Pattern: Nutkin by Beth Lapensee

Yarn: OnLine Supersocke 100 – Florida Color in “1131” (Gah, I hate when yarn doesn’t have names!)

Needles: US 2, I purposely made sure to knit these a little bigger since I knit rather tightly and really wanted these to fit on Grandma’s legs!

Thoughts: I modified this pattern quite a bit- and outlined the changes here on Ravelry. I just did a ribbed cuff, heel flap and a regular toe instead of the pattern’s changes. Nutkin is a ridiculously easy pattern to memorize and I know why a lot of people have knit this one! I'd recommend it to beginners- but with my modifications.

I’d like to thank my sister for allowing me to sneak a few rows in while I was helping her move and my husband, the supplier of Kleenx, for his patience in not making any plans on the weekend so I could knit. I’d also like to thank my country, and the team I knit for, Canada, because you put on one hell of a great show. Today is the first day I haven’t watched Olympic coverage on television. For the last two weeks I have been RIVOTED to my television, jonesing for “hit” after “hit” of Olympic coverage.

I cheered with Alexandre Bilodeau who seemed so deserving of the status of being the Olympian who won the first gold on Canadian soil. And I cried like a big sap when he hugged this brother. I cheered, (and cried again), when the Canadian ladies of the speed skating track brought in their medals. I cried for Jeremy Wotherspoon who just wanted a medal so badly, and deserved it, and walked away empty handed. I cheered through every Canadian hockey game, I celebrated the Virtue and Moir skate, I cried at Joannie Rochette and didn’t breathe during the entire third period of that last hockey game. (Sydney Crosby for Prime Minister!) I watched everything there was to watch! I have cheered harder and cried more during these games than I have ever before. I am just so proud of my country and how we presented ourselves and who knew it would make me so emotional!? Anyways- thanks Canada, it was fun to be on your team, even if you haven’t recognized the knitting “sport”… yet.

I’m so proud of my "Bob" from the Ravelympics:

AND, my medal from the Yarn Harlot:

*In all fairness to myself in this photo- my sinuses are still kinda swollen!

Gold Medal Pace

Firstly... National Post readers... did you see this?!! National coverage of the knitting Olympics! I feel so legit!

Good news readers- I am on my desired gold medal pace! Grandpa's socks are done! Done! Done!

Pattern: Mr. Pitt's Socks by Kaitlyn Wong

Yarn: Schachenmayr nomatta Regia Tweed 4-fadig/4 ply

Needles: US 1 (I used my fancy new Signature needles and they are SO. WORTH. THE. MONEY.)

Thoughts: I didn't love the yarn. The slubs of color aren't spun tightly enough for me into the wool. You can pull out the slubs very easily, which is highly disappointing.

Yarn aside, this is the perfect sock pattern for a man. It's simple and easy (man requirement), and is very straight forward to knit. Hopefully next time Grandpa is faced with a blizzard and a subsequent 55 hour power outage with no heat (!!), he will have something to keep his feet warm! This sock is a monster to knit! Grandpa's feet are 10.5" inches heel to toe and it's a 9" leg. At the end I felt as though I had been knitting this sock forever!

Don't start crying for my time on the podium yet, I'm only halfway to my gold medal in knitting. As the rules suggest, the knitter is to challenge themselves with a project/projects. I decided my challenge would be time, and chose to commit myself to 2 pairs of socks. (Oh did I ever pick the right challenge for me. Work has been an absolute circus- and I had to work a lot of over time last week, nearly killing 2 days of knitting progress!)

I cast on sock #2 for Grandma (how fair would it be to give Grandpa sock for the Saskatchewan winter and ignore Grandma's toes?)* this morning and have half the leg done this evening. The sock looked like this around 3:00 today:

It's nice to be knitting something with more of a pattern again! I see more Olympic watching and knitting in my future this week. Hopefully work will be a little more normal and I'll be able to squeak in a few extra hours of knitting. Maybe I should print out that National Post article I mentioned above and post it on my door to let people know I need to focus on my knitting?

Back to knitting- GO TEAM CANADA!

* I suppose in this same logic I shouldn't be leaving my other grandma out! Hmmmm... Grandma Prince, we might have to look at some potential spring socks for you!

Cheering for Canadian Gold

Firstly I apologize that this update comes so much later in my quest for knitting gold . I had hoped to keep you updated more frequently on my Olympic sock progress. That plan was derailed by the heavy work load I've had since my return from Hawaii. Actually, my heavy workload has also derailed my knitting progress too! I've only managed to knit 20 rows in the last 2 days. I'm hoping that I have gotten caught up enough at work that I can pull out a "win" on these socks.

My original strategy was to be finished pair #1 by Saturday afternoon/evening and cast on pair #2 over the weekend. I'm hoping I can still stick to the schedule, even if it means pulling a late nighter on Friday. Grandpa's socks are quite a bit larger- so it should, in theory, take me less time to knit Grandma's.

Here's what sock 1 of Grandpa's socks looked like last Sunday. (I've been so busy at work I haven't had a chance to take any other pictures!)

I cast off the toe on Tuesday and cast on for pair 2 and quickly made work of the cuff. Then work dominated my life and I was unable to get much progress in.

The medal is feeling a little bit off in the distance at the moment, just because I have concerns about more work hindering my progress. (Can I get a written note or something to excuse me from being busy until after the Olympics?) I must say though- despite my concerns, I've been having a BLAST watching team Canada representing my country. Today's gold medal win in Speed skating is the right motivation to get me motivated to win my knitting gold!

And, in an entirely unrelated note, but it was too great not to share- this had me laughing my butt off at work today. The right thing to lighten my mood. A little knitting humor for ya!

Winter Olympic Start and Goals

Who are you cheering for this winter Olympics!?

That's right! I had so much fun during the 2008 Summer Olympics, I had to participate in the Ravelympics for Winter... especially since my country is the host country. (I'm "jennipoo" on Ravlery... not nennieknits, just in case you wondering who the heck this "jennipo" was.)

I've decided to challenge myself this year, and knit TWO pairs of socks, since last time around, I finished my Olympic sock with time to spare. When Grandpa Johnson called this Christmas to wonder "where the heck are my socks", I thought I'd knit he and Grandma socks for my challenge this year. Both patterns are relatively simple, (especially since the last socks I knit for them, (here and here) they deemed "too fancy" to wear.)

For Grandpa I'm knitting Mr. Pitt's socks again- they're simple enough that he should wear them. For Grandma, (who's a knitter so I had to do something a little more interesting), I'm going to make the Nutkin socks. Will I be able to complete both on time? Adding a slightly more difficult element to my plan- (and the reason for my silence this week), is that I'm not currently home. I'm on vacation somewhere tropical- and well, my desire to knit anything is greatly diminished. On the upside, we return soon- and I will throw myself into the knitting.

I also made progress on the blanket before I left, getting it cast off the needles. It still requires a border to finish it off, (unofficial goal to also finish during the Olympics), but I'm quite pleased with the results.

Representing the beginning of the "story"- I put the knit the parent's names at the beginning:

Representing where the couple met- the Husky, the University of Saskatchewan's mascot.

Representing their first date to the symphony, a violin and bow:

The blanket is definately coming along- let's hope I can find some time to get this project out the door to my friend at the end of February!

I'm so excited for these Olympics- I can't wait to get started!!

Setting the Pace

Well, that looks considerably more like a palm tree! Knit to represent the couple's engagement in Mexico, I was so happy when transposing the pattern finally clicked and the palm tree did in fact look like a palm tree.

Just to be safe- the heart?

Looked like a heart. (Representing "they fell in love".)

And the "They got married"?

That looks right too!

All together, it looks like this blanket is coming together, finally.

It is AMAZING what stepping away from a project and rethinking things will do to your motivation! My unofficial goal is to have this off the needles by Friday, which means instead of going on and on at length on the blog- I need to shut up and get back to the knitting!

One more thing- This blanket needs a border. I have NO IDEA what to do for it. Any suggestions you make (could you attach a link with a photo so I can see it?) would be most appreciated!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

I put this project in a time out over December- and then, kept using the yarn order, (that was quite late), as my excuse not to pick up the needles and try again. I then got the late yarn order and still couldn't get myself to frog the old blanket and begin again.

But, then, the husband watched Batman Begins one Saturday afternoon- and it all changed.

At one point in the movie Alfred asks Bruce Wayne (Batman) "Why do we fall?" and Bruce dutifully responds "So we can get back up" and I felt like the universe was sending me a message.

Why do we fall? So we can get back up.

We've been here before, however there are a few key changes:

1) The color is a vast improvement for a little girl. Pink and purple and GIRLIE. I feel 90% better about this blanket based on the change in colors.
2) I figured out where I went wrong.

I sat down and I looked long and hard at that palm tree pattern. I matched things- and I was still coming up short. I then decided to ask Lisa at DigKnitty if she could send me a chart. Lisa came through in a heartbeat and sent the chart instantly. (Have I mentioned how awesome she is? Let's get back to that. BUY FROM LISA!) The chart made it all make sense and I figured out where I was going wrong! I even figured out that I had made a drastic error transposing the square next to the palm tree too! SO, feeling a lot more confident, I am ready to accept the challenge to move past this project.

So hang on to your hats... here we go again!

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

It started like this:

A few hours later it looked like this:

A few days later it looked like this:

Pattern: Honey Bunny by Yvonne Boucher

Yarn: Bernat Satin in "camel" and a little left over white

Needles: US 3

Thoughts: I love knitting this pattern! The results are immediate and it's just SO. CUTE. It's a great last minute present that knits up quick.

I thought it might be a good idea to knit a few quick little baby gifts and try and get ahead of the "TSUNAMI of BABIES" that tends to interrupt my planned knitting. Especially since I was waiting for the new yarn to arrive to make the blanket that shall not be named. (Yes, we're returning to the horror next week.) This little project doesn't have a home yet, but I'm sure some little girl will be happy to give her a cuddle.

The End. :-) (Can you handle the tail? I can hardly handle the adorable wrapped up in that tail!)

A Little Birdy Told Me...

A little birdy told me if I didn’t finish my mittens with the birdy embroidery it would bother me forever… and so, I did what the birdy told me and finished them up.

In my opinion the Birds make the mittens! Aren’t they cute?

A little birdy also told me that it’s about time I showed you a picture of the Plain A$$ socks since they were finished a long time ago.

Pattern: Sock Recipe: A Good Plain Sock by Stephanie Pearl McPhee aka "The Yarn Harlot"

Yarn: OnLine Supersocke Cotton Beach Colour in colorway 945

Needles: US 2

Notes: My gauge is looser it seems these days, and the US 2 wasn’t the best of choices. Mental note to self- go down a size for a tighter fit. I knit these so fast I impressed myself! It took me 2.5 days to get both socks off the needles and on the blockers. Impressive!

I love being able to just knit, aimlessly without thinking. This was a great distraction. Even the pattern lines up beautifully- and the anal retentive in me enjoys that everything is asymmetrical and looks the same.

I’ve obeyed the little birdy about showing you the mittens and the socks, but it wanted me to show you something else too. I’m hesitant to do this, scared to be honest with you and myself, but I’ve decided to put it out there publicly.

The little birdy wanted me to show you MOST of my stash.

Sock & Fingering Weight Yarn

DK & Worsted Weight Yarn

(The little birdy was thoughtful enough to not make me show you my acrylic stash and leftovers that sit in the box without a project on the horizon. That’s my “shame” stash that only I am privy too.)

It’s time to admit to myself how much there is and to set some goals in dealing with it.

This is the stash that I’ve collected that needs to get smaller. I’m not suggesting that it needs to disappear overnight- but I will not get a new box for stash. I love this yarn. It is time that I knit with it. Current stash storage is tight. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is going to fit in that box right now. I chose not to knit hats this year so that I may, instead, focus on stash busting a little more.

If you double click on the photos above, I’ve added some notes that will show up on the flickr page when you hover over stash items. Some plans for the stash are revealed there. My goal is to whittle this down by half. I will show you these pictures again, sometime in the summer with the used yarn blurred out, and again in December, so I can publicly assess what I’ve used up.

If, and when I’ve made room in the boxes, I can add back to the pile**… specifically I will buy the Rowan Lima yarn that I have not stopped obsessing about and make something beautiful with… but only, after there is some stash down progress here.

I’m looking forward to making some beautiful projects this year, with yarn from my stash!

As for that little birdy, he wanted me to show you two other things I’ve gotten around to starting, but I told him to take a hike. Birdies have gotten so demanding! (We’ll discuss on the next blog).

** as always exceptions to the rules will be made. There will and always will be room in my stash for Wollmeise. If I stumble over a Loopy Ewe update, I’m scooping that stuff up! Also- baby blanket yarn won’t count, because there will be a little bit of that too this year.

What I Knit on my Christmas Vacation

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today is, sadly, the last day of my Christmas vacation. Tomorrow I return to work and get back to the grind- but today, I have one last day to reflect on how awesome it is to live a life of leisure.

I knit a lot this vacation. I listened to podcasts, I watched the first two seasons of Mad Men, maybe the first 3 of 6 Star Wars movies and most of all, I knit through all of it. With that kind of focus on the knitting- there was bound to be some progress. I finished the following before New Years (and therefore will be counted in the 2009 list of my FO's).

Pattern: Marlene by Cookie A

Yarn: Estelle Cadenza in sexy colorway name 955 (purple). (PLEASE YARN PEOPLE, it is so much more fun when you NAME your yarn instead of giving it a number.)

Needles: US 2

More Pics because these look smashing: (if you are a Ravelry member there are always more photos on that site)

Thoughts: I couldn't start the new year with an old purse sock. I decided I had the brain power to commit to the sock so I just went for it, and was surprised how quickly, (and without errors) I was able to grind this sock out when I put my head down. The yarn makes the project just pop- and I really hope they keep my dear friend Melly's feet warm!

Also, keeping my hands warm, and knit to sort of matching my Burberry scarf:

Pattern: Bird in Hand by Kate Gilbert

Yarn: Cascade 220 in 8505 and 4102 (or white and pink)

Needles: US 1 for the cuffs and US 3 for the hand portions

Thoughts: I know that I'm supposed to embroider the bird in the thumb of the mitten- and lord knows I tried. I'll still try, but I wish I had heeded the advice of everyone else who knit these and embroidered before I seamed up the thumbs, so far all attempts at embroidery have failed. I also wish that I'd done a different color palette. The pink is light enough that the pattern doesn't really "pop" out, and you have to look at it for a bit before you get the effect of the pattern.

I did really love the braid and the cuffs. I want to put a braid in everything now!

In general I'm a little disappointed with these mittens. (Although they are incredibly warm and practically bullet proof and I will wear them for the remainder of this cold winter!) I'm still knitting fair isle too tightly. I had to rip these mittens out three times to get a hand size I liked. Here's the difference between the hand on US 2's and the hand on US 3's. (3's are a much more comfortable fit.)

My stranding still pulls and puckers and I'm annoyed with myself that I haven't mastered this yet. I want to sit down and knit with Magses and have her show me what I'm doing wrong. Her fair isle always turns out so beautifully and smooth. My cuffs are perfect... but my hands are not. I wonder where the difference is? I still want to get good at this technique... I will still try more mittens, but I'm hoping that there will be a magic moment where the light bulb turns on and I get it.

With the mittens and socks off the needles, I found myself staring down at a New Years project-less. Having knit the Marlene's and Bird in Hands, I was longing for something simple. Really simple. I cast on a plain a$$ sock, and I'm enjoying the reprieve from having to pay close attention to a chart and counting my stitches. I made pretty impressive progress in a very short amount of time. (I would so love to finish these today!)

Who doesn't love a project that is mostly knit stitch?

As far as New Years resolutions go, I've decided not to pressure myself into hats this year. I'm staring down another year of baby blankets, and every time I take some time off from the blankets, I end up knitting hats to try and catch up to my total. I'm missing out on knitting the projects I do want to knit because I'm trying to stay up to date on the hats. It's not to say that I won't be knitting hats. I just won't be attempting to knit 52 of them. My only other resolution is to whittle away at the stash more aggressively. My Loopy Ewe order arrived on Wednesday last week- and it contained the most beautiful stash addition.

This is Madelintosh in "Window Pane". It's so unbelievably squooshy I just want to squeeze it in my hands all the time. I might take it to work to squeeze it when I get stressed... this seems to have the magic powers to make any bad day disappear.

I have a lot of yarn. It's time to knit it down. I love my stash. I love what's in my stash- I just need to get to KNITTING my stash. 2010 is going to be a good year if I just knit with my stash. So I'm going to try. I'm not going to make promises of no slip ups along the way- I'm weak, and I'm also flush with Pudding gift cards from generous family members. (I'm also dreaming of Rowan's "Lima" yarn and what I could make of it, I have fallen in love. But I won't allow myself a purchase until I make some room in the stash boxes.)

2010 is off to a great start- looking forward to see what I'm going to make this year!